As the shattered moon rose up in the midnight sky, two girls wade their way through the silently buzzing streets of vale. They were returning from a night party, chatting all the way without a care in the world.
"Hey... Have you heard?"
"Hmm? Heard what?"
"You know, About the killings that happened recently."
"Uh yeah... What about that?"
"They say that it was done by a very weird looking girl"
"weird looking?"
"Yeah! You know, they say that the girl had a clock for an eye!"
"Like... An actual clock?"
"Yeah! You know, its also said that she had stitches on her face which were sewn into the corners of her mouth to resemble an upturned smile."
"Whoa! Really? That's just creepy..."
"I know right!"
"By the way, where did you hear these?"
"Uh... Rumours..."
"Really... Just rumours?"
"Yes..."
"You know rumours always exaggerate stuff, right?"
"Well sometimes they do... But hey! Anything is possible! They might even be true."
"For an airhead like you? Yes"
"Hey! Who are you calling air-" "Excuse me" The two girls were so immersed in the topic, that they never noticed the stranger walking behind them.
As soon as they heard the stranger call, they stopped in their tracks and turned around. The person who was supposedly a female, was wearing a blue hoodie with black skintight jeans and boots. She also wore large goggles that covered her eyes, and black facemask that covered her nose and mouth as well.
"Yes?" One of the girls asked.
"Um... " The stranger spoke, holding her scroll in one hand, and playing with her long and wavy brown hair with the other.
"Where is the nearest bar?" the woman finally asked.
"Oh... Um.. Go straight, and take a left" one of the girls said while pointing towards the narrow part of the streets.
"I see, Thank you." The woman said before walking off. Once she was sure that she was far away from the two girls, she clicked her tongue. "I've been careless" She muttered under her breath as continued walking.
She raised her scroll and reviewed the pic of the two girls she secretly snapped. It was a decent image that could later help her remember their faces.
"Gotta make sure they don't go spreading anymore rumours."
As her mind got busy devising a plan to kill those two girls, she failed to notice the red head she was walking straight into, leading to an unlucky crash. Even after she bumped into the little girl, she managed to keep herself from tripping and hitting the ground. However, the redhead wasn't as lucky, as she already had her face planted to the cold concrete.
Once the woman had her balance stable, she took a look at the girl she crashed onto, who was starting to get back to her feet while rubbing her sore head. Examining the girl's features, she wore a black long-sleeved dress with a high collar and red trim on the sleeves, a black waist cincher with red lacing up the front and around her skirt is red trim. She also wore a pair of thick black stockings and black combat boots with red laces and trims around the top and red soles. To top things off, she wore a crimson cloak.
"Ouch... " the girl whispered as she got up and shook her head, flailing her neck length black hair, that had a shade of red towards the end. She then turned around and faced the woman.
The woman gasped, as she was slightly... Taken back. Looking down at the shorter girl, the glitter in the young girl's silver eyes were like unlike anyone's she met before. Bold, but innocent. They were so full of life and charisma, that it annoyed the woman on the very first sight.
"Oh!" the girl cried, startled, like she just realised the woman was standing there.
"I-I'm so sorry!" she gave an another high pitched cry as she bowed and apologised.
"Its okay. I wasn't watching where I was headed." the woman said as she reached out her hand out and pat the girl's head, causing her cheeks to heat up.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"Y-yeah... I'm fine.." She muttered, trying to keep herself from stuttering. The woman who noticed this formed a smirk under her mask. 'She's cute' she thought as she sneaked out her scroll and took a snap at the flustered girl.
'And that makes three for today. Guess that's enough' She thought, satisfied with the numbers.
Having spotted her today's victim's, it was about time she got to work. And she would start off from Ruby.
"Are you a huntress?" she asked.
"... In training" The girl hesitantly answered.
"I see." she sighed, relieved that she didn't pick a tough target. "What's your name?" she asked, taking her hand off.
"I'm Ruby Rose" she answered as she stretched her hand out.
"A pretty name, for a pretty girl" the woman said as she shook hands. The woman's skin was cold, but still very soft.
The pink tint reappeared on Ruby's cheeks as she got complimented. "T-thanks..." She muttered. "W-what's your name?"
"Oh me? I'm ... Natalie" the woman introduced herself.
'What a weird name' Ruby thought to herself.
"So tell me Ruby" Natalie slid a finger beneath Ruby's chin and coaxed her head to look up at her, since she was easily a foot taller than the red head.
"What's a young student like yourself... Doing here, all alone in the middle of the night?"
Catching Ruby gulp down nervously, Natalie knew she hit the nail on the head.
"O-oh... Y-you know... Just out for a walk..." She lied, unintentionally making it obvious.
"A walk you say..." Natalie got closer, silencing the gap between them both.
"Then why do I smell alcohol?" she asked.
Ruby's eyes widened. She was caught red handed. It was no surprise that a girl of her age wasn't supposed to drink. She was just 15 after all. But this stranger just read through her secret like an open book.
She felt that spending anymore time with this stranger could land her in a lot of trouble.
"U-um... L-look at the time, I have to go!" She fake gasped, before turning around and hurriedly walking off.
The woman just smirked under her face mask and called out.
"You're from beacon ,aren't you?"
Ruby froze on her tracks, her eyes so wide they could pop out.
'This woman... She knows' She thought as a bead of sweat trickled down her forehead.
"Ruby Rose, from beacon academy. I wonder if I should... Send a word."
"No!" she cried out, before hurrying back to Natalie. "Please! You can't do that!"
"Hmm... Can't I now?" She teased, even Ruby could tell she was smirking under her mask.
"Please...!" She pleaded. She had been keeping this secret from everyone till now, cause she very well knew the consequences. But this woman was threatening to throw all her efforts to waste ."What do you want?" she asked.
That... was exactly what Natalie wanted to hear. She now knew that the girl was completely under her mercy.
"What I want, Huh?" she repeated while running her cold finger across Ruby's collar bone. "That my little Rose, Is what I wanted you to say"
Ruby didn't reply, she just glared at her with tears running down her pale face.
"Hey, calm down" She snickered while cupping Ruby's face and wiping her tears off. "I too was gonna grab some drinks, and I was hoping that a cute girl like you could keep me company, that's all" she said as she cupped a side of Ruby's cheek.
"W-what...?" Ruby questioned with a sniff, not able to comprehend the simple request.
"You heard me, Just keep me company, and you're free to go." She said with a chuckle.
"That's it?" She questioned, a relieving smile spreading across her lips.
"Yup! That's it!" Natalie reassured...
"O-okay then... You promise to let me go after a drink?"
"Yup! I promise."
Time seemed like the least thing that bothered Ruby, as she sat on a street side bar and downed another shot of her alcoholic beverage. Natalie just watched with a smirk, as everything was going as planed.
She didn't bother drinking, as it had the risk of removing her mask in a public place. Now all that was left to do was let Ruby go on a full hungover, take her to the woods, and enjoy dissecting her.
"Say Ruby" She spoke, getting a hum from Ruby as a response.
"Why do you drink?" she asked out of curiosity. As Ruby looked like the most innocent of souls, it didn't quite make sense for her to be alcoholic.
Hearing the question, Ruby's head dropped. She didn't want the question to be brought up, but a part of her knew it would eventually happen.
"Its... Complicated.." she said.
"Its okay, I have knack of understanding even the most complex of things" Replied Clockwork, now growing all the more curious.
"You don't listen, do you?" Ruby just sighed and shook her head. "Well... I guess it all started back at signal."
'So she went to signal' Natalie thought as Ruby continued.
"Since I was a bit... Antisocial, I was usually picked on... Just by one guy actually. He used to bully me almost regularly... One day, we fought.. Outside of school, in the woods. I was just minding my own business... You know, training without crescent rose."
"Crescent Rose?" Natalie Interrupted.
"Oh... She is... Umm... My Scythe..." She explained, with a slurry tone.
"Scythe?" she questioned with disbelief. Its not often she saw someone use a scythe. Moreover, not someone like Ruby.
"Yesss... Oh! She's also a gun..." Ruby said proudly.
"Oh... That's cool. Now continue." she demanded.
"Yeah... So I was training without crescent rose... To get better at hand to hand combat." she continued with hiccup. "And this guy came from out of nowhere. Seems like he was stalking me... Anyway, he came and started beating me up. I couldn't defend myself... I was weak at hand to hand to combat. He was laughing... Laughing at my helplessness... And then..."
"And then?" Natalie demanded again.
"And then... Something happened." she answered, causing the woman's both green and clock stuffed eyes behind her goggles to widen. If this was heading the way she thought it was, then she had just found someone very ... Similar.
"What happened?" She questioned, hoping for the answer she expected.
"And then... Everything became weird... There was a ringing in my gut... And the last thing I remember before blacking out was... Me getting back to my feet... After that, everything went black." Before Natalie could question it, Ruby continued.
"And... When I woke up. There... There..." Ruby placed her hand over her face and sobbed.
"W-what happened? What was there when you woke up?" Natalie questioned, starting to sweat drop.
"There... There was blood in my hands!" Ruby softly yelled, before she broke down crying.
Natalie gasped. Shock, relief and happiness, flooding through her like a river.
'This girl...' She was just like her!
Clockwork never expected, to find a mirage of herself in Ruby. But now that she did, she was more than happy.
But her celebration was cut short, as Ruby continued.
"At that point... I knew... I had killed him... And the worst part... I never felt guilty! I... Felt like I was worse than a grim...!
From then on... Whenever I got angry, I would do my best to control myself. If it got too hard, then I would secretly drink away. Somehow, it helped me calm down." with that, she stopped explaining. As Alcohol took its toll, she collapsed on the desk.
Meanwhile, Clockwork just sat there, feeling very satisfied.
It was quarter to four, and Ruby was lying in an open part of the woods, over piled up dry leaves. As moonlight shone over her fragile body, Natalie gazed down at her with a smile.
Originally, she had planned on bringing Ruby here just to brutally murder her. But things were different now.
As Ruby lay there on the ground passed out, Natalie removed her mask and tossed it aside, revealing her smile sewn mouth. As the face mask flew away along the thick winds, she removed her goggles, revealing her right eye which was brilliant green, and her left eye, which had a face of analog clock stuffed inside. And weirdly, it was still ticking.
She crouched down and held Ruby's head in one hand.
'Such a pretty face' she thought to herself as she ran her finger across Ruby's soft and puffy lips.
Without a second a thought, she leaned down and engulfed Ruby's mouth with a kiss. More than romantic, it had an other purpose. The purpose of pumping a little of Clockwork's aura into Ruby, as it would help kick start her... Plans.
Once she was done, she parted from the kiss and stood up. With one last smile, she started walking off.
"Sleep tight my little Rose, we'll meet again, very. Very soon."
Ruby just laid there, accompanied by the cold night breeze, and the light from shattered moon.
She was oblivious, to what has just been done to her.
She was oblivious, to the madness that was yet to come.